Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - New Chemistry Building [PAGE 8]

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quate library building,' adequate to house five million books, as we hope to have in the course of time, the mere existence of t h a t building, the mere impression which it would make upon the public mind, and I mean by that, the mind of the State, the minds of the taxpayers, the minds of the people who are contributing to the support of the institution, would be the most potent influence in getting an adequate fund for the purchase of books necessary to fill those shelves and the creation of a staff necessary to organize and develop such a library. Friends, we are glad to have you here, rejoicing with us over the erection of this great structure, because it is going to be one of the most powerful agencies in helping us to secure for chemistry, for chemical investigation, for chemical teaching, for the spread abroad of chemical knowledge an ever greater influence. There was always something symbolic and significant in laying the foundations and in completing the dedication of a great building for the uses to- which it is to be devoted. The human being has, somehow or other, an unconscious feeling of the importance of the initial steps, and then the importance of the final steps, a sort of unconscious idea t h a t a great structure of this sort represents in itself and shadows forth in itself the efforts of humanity directed toward higher things; and so, many tribes of men have made human sacrifices, have buried human beings alive under the corner stones of such buildings, have shed their blood in the final dedication, a symbol of what the great effort involved in erecting the building has signified. We have been at work on this building now for many years. In fact, the older portion of this building had no sooner been completed than the members of the chemical staff, themselves, set about planning for an enlargement of the structure, for an addition to it; and I believe t h a t even now, before we have fairly dedicated this building, Professor Noyes and his associates are casting long and lingering glances at the open lot opposite the present building, with the hope that the University may get that against—I will not say, the time when we need more space for chemistry, for that is already here; these gentlemen have more than filled this building, and are pressing urgently for additional space—but against the time when funds may be available for actually beginning the erection of such a building. These chemical men have been at work for years planning for this structure, trying

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